The Institute
by bat-hawk
Summary: The real title is: The Institute for the Education of Gifted Young People. Unfortunately, there are character limits. If the title isn't close enough to the original for you, this is an X-Men AU. Contains slash, so be warned.


**A/N:** I have read a few mutant AUs in this fandom which were either very short or unfinished. This always caused me great sorrow, because who does not like people with super powers and real life problems? So I have set out to write a long mutant AU that will hopefully be finished. This starts kind of randomly, and it is not really perfect, but I reached the point where I need some sort of feedback in order to continue. Any sort of concrit you could give me would be vastly appreciated, or if you just tell me what you liked. Or even if you tell me you liked it at all. Please do ask if you have Q's about people's powers, I didn't really explain them very well, and a lot of people don't use their powers at all in this chapter.

Arthur's power is what it is because one of the very short mutant AUs involved Catboy!Arthur and Tentacle!Eames, and I was like, "I can run with Catboy!Arthur!" And right now I think I should point out the very important fact that Arthur's ears are rounded, because they are panther ears, not housecat ears. Really nothing you know about catboys applies to Arthur, except for the fact that he has various cat appendages. He's kind of like Sabertooth, but not evil. And his claws are not ugly like Sabertooth's. They look like claws at all times (never do they look like fingernails), though they do retract to behind the tips of Arthur's fingers so that he does not claw up everything he touched.

There will be OCs in this, because canon gives us approximately five characters, but please slap me in the face if they turn Mary Sue. Really, come scream at me. Mary Sues are the last thing I want.

Shutting up now. As you can see, I will be more then happy to talk to you at length about any aspect of this fic if you want any clarification about anything.

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><p>Arthur was buttoning up his waistcoat when Ariadne slid into his room. Arthur raised an eyebrow at her.<p>

"Generally when a door is closed, one is supposed to knock."

Ariadne waived a hand through the air. "There was no way that you could've been naked still. Really, Arthur, you take almost as long as Mal to get dressed. We've been waiting for _ages_ for you to come down."

"Ariadne, you do not look like a kinky sex fantasy. I wouldn't expect you to understand about the necessities of defense."

"But what about all of the people with suit kinks, Arthur. You're just feeding the fire!"

"I was under the impression that you were smarter then this, but it seems I was woefully mistaken. Come on, then," Arthur grabbed his jacket and walked out of the door, "I am ready, we can leave."

"Can't, actually, we're still waiting on Mal."

"Then why the fuck were you coming to whine at me?"

"Because Mal would claw my face off if I told her to hurry up!"

Arthur looked down at his actual claws. "I feel like I should not have to remind you about this, but-"

"Yes, Arthur, I realize that you could physically claw my face off, and I'm sure you think about it often, but Mal would make do with her fingernails, I am sure."

They entered the foyer as Ariadne said the last, and Ophelia snorted from where she sat, wearing combat boots with a pencil skirt and pulling it off. One of the great wonders of the world.

"Cobb," she looked up from her iPhone, "go collect your wife now that the great and powerful Arthur has graced us with his presence."

Cobb attempted to protest, but Saito shoved him towards the door and he went. Eames held out his arm to Arthur with a smiled "pet," and Arthur tucked himself against his side.

"You look nice tonight," Arthur muttered against Eames' jaw, fingering the lapels of Eames' jacket.

"I do, don't I," Eames preened for a moment before sliding a covert hand down to cup Arthur's ass. "I must say, though, you look better. Would that you wore a suit at all times!"

"Eames," Arthur relocated Eames' hand to his waist. "Do you know how many suits I would ruin everyday?"

"But kitten, you would look ravishing! More ravishing then usual, that is," Eames grinned.

"What did I tell you, Arthur," Ariadne said rather loudly from the sideline, "fuel to the fire!"

"It may come as a surprise to you, Ariadne, but I do not mind being Eames' sex fantasy in the slightest."

Saito smirked in the corner of Arthur's eye, and Miles cringed next to him. Ariadne rolled her eyes and stared pointedly at Eames, who smiled innocently back.

Ophelia smacked her gum loudly in the intermittent silence before Mal swept into the room in a brilliant blue dress, smiling her apologies.

Of course, this was hardly the first time Mal had made everyone half an hour late, which was why Saito and Arthur had lied to everyone about the time to begin with. What, did you think Arthur ever would have been late because he did not allow enough time to _get dressed_?

Saito calmly ushered everyone out the door and into the limo that stood waiting for them, Nelson hovering over the top of it, sniper rifle in hand.

"Happy security duty," Arthur smirked up at him as he slid into the car.

"Happy schmoozing duty," Nelson swatted at Arthur's ear with the tip of his wing.

"Happy eating good food and looking like I'm a well turned out little mutant panther, rather. Saito is the schmoozer."

"I do not _schmooze_, Mr. Arthur. I show off my wonderful graduates," Saito gave a hard look to Eames, "and I _advertise_."

"What?" Eames protested, "You should be looking at Cobb, or Arthur, or any-fucking-one other then me! I graduated your whole system in _one year_, if you remember!"

"Relax, Mr. Eames!" Saito cracked a smile and conjured a lit cigarette in front of Eames.

Eames grumbled and pulled Arthur closer to him, but he took the cigarette.

"Are you going to share?" Arthur perched his chin on Eames' shoulder.

"'Course, darling," Eames smiled and took a lung full of smoke before shotgunning it to Arthur.

"Get a room, will you?" Ariadne grumbled as she stared out the window.

"Ari!" Mal swatted her on the knee, "love should never be confined to one place!"

"Is that permission?" Eames looked up, eyes sparkling, both arms wrapped around Arthur.

"Oh _god_ no!" Cobb's eyes went wide. "That was in no way, shape, or form, permission."

"More's the pity," Eames planted a quick kiss on Arthur's mouth before returning to a slightly more socially acceptable position.

Everyone piled out of the car straightening suits and dresses when they reached the restaurant where Saito was scheduled to calm down some bastards from the government who were leery of a school for mutants.

Alisha met them there on the curb, and there were hugs and handshakes all around.

Saito led the way through the door, and everyone did their best imitation of cultured and refined. Mal and Cobb didn't have to pretend; glamor came easily to them.

The government men stood from where they had been seated to shake hands with Saito and Miles. Saito then began introducing everyone else.

"This here is Mal. She was our first student, Mile's daughter and his inspiration for The Institute. She is now a teacher at the school."

Mal smiled and gave her hand to each man to kiss. "It's delightful to meet you," she purred.

"This is Cobb, also a member of our first graduating class. He is also now a teacher at The Institute."

Cobb shook each of their hands with a serious nod and a firm grip.

"This is Eames, who graduated the course in the shortest amount of time yet. He teaches and acts as security for us now."

Eames took the men's hands with half a bow and a smirk, rumbling, "charmed, I'm sure." He could be just as charming as Mal and more when he put his mind to it.

"And here is Arthur. He is the head of security on campus, and he also teaches self-defense classes to the upper level students."

Arthur looked as serious as he knew how and gave each hand a businesslike shake, saying "good evening," is as commanding a tone he could muster, but their eyes still fell on his ears and stuck there.

"Alisha here is one of our graduates who has since gone out into the workforce. She got a degree in mechanical engineering and now works for an engineering firm."

Alisha gave a shy smile and a "pleasure to meet you."

"Here is Ophelia, who has not been able to find work outside of the school yet. We keep her on as a teacher's assistant until someone will hire her." That was not strictly the truth, but the government didn't need to know about that.

Ophelia held out a confident hand and smiled "how do you do" to each of the men.

"And this is Ariadne, a sixth year student. She is planning to graduate next spring."

Ariadne smiled sweetly and simply said "hello" to the men, holding out her little blue hands for them to shake.

Everyone sat down and ordered their food, the men asking questions of Saito and occasionally someone else.

Arthur had to force himself to use a fork when his food came, a barely cooked steak.

"I should've ordered something far less delicious," he grumbled to Eames. "Forks. Who even needs forks. A useless invention if I ever saw one."

"You'll manage, pet," Eames grinned into his wine glass.

"You have no sympathy for me. None. Why don't you try being half panther, hm? You wouldn't be laughing then."

"I'm sure I wouldn't be." Eames reached up and flicked one of Arthur's ears. Arthur stabbed at Eames with his knife, and Eames blocked him with a wall of his own making. "Tsk, tsk, Arthur, animalistic behavior in public. Whatever will Saito say."

Arthur growled and turned back to his plate.

The dinner was winding to a close, it had gone remarkably well, when there was a scream from one side of the restaurant.

Eames reacted faster then even he thought possible, slamming up a shield around all of the people in the restaurant as the walls crumbled and the ceiling crashed down under the force of several explosives. Eames stumbled with the suddenness of such a large exertion, and Arthur wrapped steadying hands around his shoulders as he scanned the room for any clues among the people.

The whole place had gone dead silent, all eyes on Eames as he struggled to get used to the weight of the roof crushing against him. Eames shook his head and stood straight after a moment.

"I don't suppose anyone saw who did that?" He asked in a strained voice, audible throughout the restaurant.

The calm broke after that, people began talking to each other, and a few went into hysterics. Alisha flickered in and out of visibility for a moment before she got a hold of herself.

Arthur looked and listened as hard as he could, trying to figure out if the perpetrators were still inside Eames' walls. There was a table of mutants on the edge of Arthur's hearing who were muttering about getting away, and Arthur zeroed in on them.

"I've got some rats to catch," he growled, shucking off his suit jacket and dropping a kiss to Eames' neck before he stalked towards the mutants.

"Arthur, I'm-" Ophelia started walking after him.

"No, cover Eames. If they get to him, everyone dies." Arthur cut her off.

"But Arthur, you can't-"

"Can and will. Stay with Eames. That is an order." Arthur didn't turn around, but he could tell that Ophelia had stopped following him. He would be alone in this fight. Eames was occupied, and Ophelia needed to watch him, Saito couldn't blow his cover as harmless benefactor for The Institute, and none of the others would be any help in a fight like this.

As Arthur came closer, he was able to discern that there were four mutants that he would have to worry about. That was too many for him to take at once, especially in a room filled with panicky humans. If he could draw them outside, however, he would have Nelson, and the civilians would be safely out of the way.

The mutants began to be aware of Arthur as he kept walking towards them. They nudged each other and muttered nervously, staring. Arthur grinned, showing off all of his teeth, then he dived at them, missing his target by inches as he stood up and bolted, the other three following after him. They ran in the general direction of Eames, so Arthur took a small detour to shout to Eames to let the mutants get outside of the walls.

Eames nodded, and a shuddering hole opened in the wall closest to the fleeing mutants. They immediately vaulted out through the hole, Arthur leaping after them. The hole snapped shut centimeters clear of Arthur's tail.

One of the men peeled off to the right immediately, but the other three kept together.

"Nelson!" Arthur shouted, dropping to all fours and pelting after the three.

"What are we doing?" The smooth side of one of Nelson's claws brushed Arthur's shoulder as Nelson materialized over him.

"One went east, can you find him? Leave him if you don't see him."

"I'll give it a shot." Nelson soared off, leaving Arthur alone with the other three.

Arthur concentrated on keeping them all running in the same direction, teeth snapping and claws snagging in the fabric of their suits whenever they tried to break away.

One of the mutants began to throw some sort of disks behind him at Arthur. Arthur wasn't sure what they were made of, but the way they whistled in the wind sounded painful, so he avoided them to the best of his ability, which meant only one clipped his shoulder out of the bunch.

Another of the mutants was creating patches of ice on the ground, which Arthur would sometimes hit as he was dodging and cause him to loose his footing. Between the ice and the disks Arthur was barely able to keep up with the men, let alone catch up to and capture them.

Nelson reappeared two minutes after he had left.

"I shot him!" He informed Arthur. "He was too difficult to bring back alive."

"Fine," Arthur leaped to the side to avoid another disk and slipped on some ice, "help me herd these guys in, then."

"Got it," Nelson darted forwards and painted a line of warning fire in front of the mutants' feet, which had them slowing and panicking as they tried to figure out where the fire was coming from.

The guy who had been throwing the disks was the first to pin-point Nelson. He created a long, ugly looking flail out of his arm and began to whip it towards Nelson, but his movement was aborted as Arthur knocked him to the ground.

Nelson was shooting at the other two while Arthur wrestled with his one, who had razor sharp ridges all over his body. After acquiring several deep cuts, Arthur was able to put him in a submission hold and choke him into unconsciousness.

"How are you, Nelson," Arthur sat up panting, noting that the gunfire had stopped.

A frustrated sound came from directly over Arthur's head. Arthur looked up to see Nelson peering into the dark air.

"I lost the last one. I put a bullet in one of 'em, but I lost the guy with the ice in the dark."

"Oh well." Arthur stood up and shook himself. "Have you got some rope?"

"Yeah... Here you go," Nelson dropped a coil down to Arthur.

"Great." Arthur set about immobilizing his unconscious conquest.

"Well, we got one, at least," Nelson sighed. "I can carry him."

Arthur handed him over without comment. They would go faster with Nelson carrying him.

They arrived back at the remains of the restaurant. Nelson went to sit on the car with their captive, and Arthur knocked on Eames' wall. Eames' head snapped up to look at him, and he opened a portal for him with a tired grin.

"Ya get 'em, pet?"

"Killed two, got one, one got away," Arthur slid over the Institution group.

"Can't win 'em all, I guess."

"Is it safe to let everyone out?" Alisha asked.

Arthur shrugged. "There's still one more out there. I'm pretty sure we scared him off, but it is possible that he could come back."

"Do you know his mutation, Arthur?" Saito inquired.

"Ice was all he showed me."

"Then it should be fine to let everyone out. Not all at once, though, or it would turn into a madhouse. Arthur and Eames, you two stay here, everyone else come with me, we need to organize an exit."

"Arthur," Mal paused as she walked past, "what happened to you?"

"Oh, it's nothing really. I had to wrestle a man lined with razor blades into submission."

"If this is nothing, I'd hate to see something," Mal cocked an eyebrow. "I could seal up some of those if you want me to. It'll probably be a bit until we can leave."

"If you could patch the deep ones for me, that would be great."

"Not a problem. Go ahead and sit down for me, Arthur."

Arthur complied, and Mal spun fine, sticky threads out of her wrists over his cuts.

"Thanks, Mal," Arthur said as she finished the last one.

"You're more then welcome, _mon cher_," Mal dropped a kiss to Arthur's forehead before she walked away.

"How are you holding up," Arthur stood and turned to check Eames over.

"I can keep this up for a while longer. Your the one who was wrestling with razor blades, kitten, how are you?"

"Nothing I haven't had before."

"That's not the most reassuring thing to say, sweetheart, you've had rather a lot."

"True," Arthur cracked a minuscule smile. "How about I've only got about six places that'll need stitches?"

"Darling, that's still no good. Let me see where."

"Chest, chest, arm, arm, knee, back. Nothing that bad, see?"

"I'd still rather you had none."

"Razor blade wrestling," Arthur smirked and kissed Eames' cheek. "You should be praising me for not getting more and worse."

"Whatever you say, Arthur," Eames ran a hand through Arthur's hair.

"If I had gone with you," Ophelia grumbled to Arthur as she walked past, leading a group of frightened humans, "you wouldn't have lost any of them."

"You wouldn't've been able to keep up, Ophelia," Arthur raised an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I was barely able to keep pace with them. You would've dropped behind rather quickly."

"Well you were obviously able to do one better then keep up if you killed two and brought one back."

"You can thank Nelson for that."

"Oh, Nelson, I see," Ophelia sneered. "The great Nelson can do anything, I suppose."

"What? No, he just has wings. So he is fast."

"Yes, fast, winged Nelson is _so much better_ then slow old Ophelia!" Ophelia stomped away.

"I don't- I don't understand," Arthur turned back to Eames. "What did I say?"

"That was just Ophelia being strange, sweetheart."

"Oh. I just- I never understand why she and Nelson hate each other so much."

"I don't think anyone but them really know," Eames pulled Arthur under his arm.

"Mr. Arthur," Saito called a short time later, "you said that three of the terrorists were neutralized and one got away from you."

"Yes, sir, that's it."

"Very good, thank you, Arthur."

"I suppose the government wanted to take our captive away, hm?" Eames muttered to Arthur.

"I guess. I wish we could leave, now. I need to sew myself up."

"I wish I could let down this fucking ceiling!" Eames moaned.

"Hang in there, beautiful," Arthur sat down again and pulled Eames onto his lap, where he curled around Arthur, grumbling into his neck.

Five minutes later, Saito came striding briskly towards Eames and Arthur.

"Eames, come with me. I need you to allow people out of your walls."

Eames only grunted, and did not move until Arthur stood, pulling Eames with him.

"Come on, baby, you've done better then this before."

"You're not the one holding up tons of concrete and steel," Eames allowed Arthur to drag him to the front of the restaurant.

Saito stepped up and droned on about how the exit was going to work. Arthur wound his tail around Eames', and Eames squeezed Arthur's hand.

"Now if the first group would step forwards," Saito finally said, "Mr. Eames, if you would."

Eames opened a square hole in his wall, the edges crisp and straight, and the first group made their way out. A steady stream of people filed after them, ushered by the others from The Institute. By the time about half of the people were through, Eames was panting and resting most of his weight on Arthur.

"Hang on," he called hoarsely, "I need to shut it for a minute."

"Very well," Saito nodded. "If the rest of you will sit tight for a moment, Mr. Eames needs a rest."

The gap vanished with a snap. The people left in the restaurant murmured uneasily to each other and shifted nervously until Eames felt up to opening the gap again. When he did so, the corners were rounded, and the lines were slightly skewed.

The others began to herd more people through, slightly faster then before, but still calm and controlled. There was maybe a quarter of the people left when Eames called for another breather from where he had crumpled to the floor, slumped over Arthur's chest.

"Eames," Dom knelt next to him and touched his shoulder lightly, "could you drop the parts of the ceiling that no one is standing underneath?"

"No," Eames shook his head, "it's too big of an area. If I drop that much of the shield, there's too much chance of it all falling in at once."

Dom nodded and walked over to Mal for a kiss.

"You've got this, gorgeous, come on," Arthur nudged at Eames' temple with his nose.

Eames tore his wall again, the hole round and ragged, edges fluttering slightly. The people were herded out at a jog. Arthur held onto Eames, rocking him slowly and stroking a hand through his hair, dropping kisses to his cheekbones.

There were about ten people left inside when Eames let out a strangled yelp and arched his back sharply.

"Run," Arthur commanded coolly, picking Eames up bridal style in one smooth motion.

Everyone bolted for the small, shaky portal, pushing and shoving their way through. Arthur stood calmly behind them all sweeping his eyes over the rest of the deserted building.

"Is anyone else here?" He called. No one responded, so he turned and walked through the shrunken tear, Eames whimpering in his arms. He waited until he was ten yards away before nuzzling Eames' temple and saying, "Let it down now, baby, you did it. You saved everyone."

Eames gave a choked sob as the restaurant collapsed in a thunderous cloud of dust. He went limp in Arthur's arms, shivering slightly.

"Don't you worry, lovely, I've got you," Arthur murmured, winding his tail around Eames'. Arthur walked towards the cluster the Institute people had made separate from the others who had been in the building.

"How is Eames?" Ariadne broke away from the group and ran towards Arthur.

"He'll be fine, he just needs to sleep for a day." Arthur swept his senses around himself in order to locate Nelson, who had flown away, probably to hide the captive mutant from the government men, who would take him and waste all of the information he could give. Arthur vaguely saw Nelson hovering over the rubble, where he would be invisible to human eyes. Arthur nodded to himself in approval and turned his attention back to ground level.

The government asses were still talking with Saito looking disgruntled, but Saito dismissed them with a smile after a few more seconds. He then turned towards Arthur and Eames.

"Eames," Saito placed a hand on Eames' shoulder, "how are you holding up?"

Eames only grunted in response, so Arthur replied in his stead,

"He's fine, he's just tired."

"That is good to hear. You did well tonight, Eames." Saito patted Eames' shoulder and stepped away. "Everyone, please get into the vehicle. We are returning to the Institute."

"I guess I'll see you guys later, then," Alisha said shyly.

"Keep in touch," Mal hugged Alisha and kissed her cheek. "I miss you!"

"I'll do my best," Alisha smiled and hugged Dom before waving and walking away.

Everyone piled into the limo. Arthur laid Eames down on the seat and put Eames' head in his lap, where he quickly fell asleep. Ophelia slouched in the seat farthest from Arthur and glared at him for the duration of the trip.

"Arthur," Mal sat down next to him, "how are you holding up?"

"Me? Don't worry about me. I'll sleep all day tomorrow with Eames. I'll be perfectly fine. You don't need to worry about me."

Mal pursed her lips and shook her head. "You are the one who is actually wounded. Eames exhausted himself, yes, but it is nothing a day off won't heal. You'll be feeling this for weeks."

"It's nothing, Mal. I've had worse and then jumped right back in the next day. I will be fine."

"I don't doubt your ability to grit your teeth and ignore pain, Arthur. It is only that you should not have to. We are your family, Arthur, we do not want you hurt."

"Why should I not have to?" Arthur knit his brow in confusion. "That is my role here. I protect you. I take the pain because I can take it best. I fight because I was created for it; I take the hits because I was made to heal. You aren't like that. Certainly Ariadne and Cobb aren't like that. What kind of a person would I be if I resented taking a slice that could cut both of them in half when it will only inconvenience me for a week or two?"

"Arthur," Mal's face was serious, and she put her hand on Arthur's arm. "You aren't just another wall between us and those who try to harm us. You are a human being. You deserve greater then that, you know you do."

Arthur shook his head and looked down at Eames, carding his fingers through Eames' hair with a small smile. "I'm fine, Mal, I have Eames. I'm fine."

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><p><strong>AN:** Idk what is up with that ending there, but that is all I have at the moment. Review, love, and there will be more soon.


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